Drive Your Business

Automation and AutonomicsKey questions about a transformative technology

2 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

Automation and autonomics (A/A) are revolutionizing the way people live, work, and do business.

As more routine tasks are taken over by automated processes, human effort can be focused on

higher-order activities, increasing the overall productivity of the workforce. One recent study found

that automation in manufacturing alone accounted for 10% of total GDP growth in the countries

studied between 1993 and 2007.1 As automation becomes more prevalent in areas such as

marketing, IT, customer service, and healthcare, the gains will be even more substantial.

Understanding Automation and Autonomics

What are automation and autonomics?

Automation is the use of pre-scripted processes to

perform tasks. Of course, all automation requires

a human being to program the process and to

initiate and maintain the system. However, as

technology has progressed, even automation

itself is being automated. This process is called

autonomics, and it allows automated processes

to self-monitor, self-repair, and evolve. By building

systems that can take over the task of writing

scripts and initiating automation, human resources

can be completely removed from mundane tasks

and be focused on more complex tasks that

require visualization, imagination, and teamwork.

Over 60% of the average enterprise IT budget is allocated for supporting,

maintaining, and enhancing systems that are already built and operational.2

Autonomics gives businesses the tools to drastically reduce that spending and

use human resources in the areas in which they are most needed.

3 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

Business applicationsAutomation has several key applications in business, including:

Manufacturing

The original role of automation in the

workplace was in manufacturing. Today,

manufacturing automations have become

much more sophisticated with advanced

robotics and computer processes capable

of assembling complicated products

with little to no human interaction.

Customer service

Call centers, online assistants, and

other areas of customer service have all

benefited significantly from automation.

Most questions and needs of customers

are repetitive and can easily be

handled by script-based systems.

Healthcare

As the population ages, the healthcare system

will require more doctors, nurses, and support

staff. One way to take some of the strain off

healthcare professionals and reduce costs

is to automate repetitive and manual tasks.

Marketing

Autonomic computing helps organizations

monitor trends, analyze data, and develop

more effective marketing strategies. With

these tools, marketing professionals

can plan and execute campaigns faster

and with more savvy than ever.

Outsourcing

Robotics, automation, and autonomics

are having a tremendous effect on the

outsourcing industry. New technology

allows robots to learn tasks precisely and

perform them on a 24/7 basis. This has

allowed some outsourcing providers to

reduce their bids by as much as 30%.3

4 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

Autonomics can be used to improve quality and reliability while simultaneously reducing costs.

Increased automation is changing the way physical, virtual and cloud environments are

managed. Maintaining IT services can be incredibly costly, and outages caused by human

error can have a significant impact on business. This has led many organizations to automate

as many tasks as possible in order to reduce costs and the effects of human error.

Autonomics is beginning to allow

robots to learn in similar ways to

humans. This gives them the ability

to replace staff in more sophisticated

environments, such as application-monitoring

scans, build-error knowledge bases, and

proactive problem resolution. “Virtual engineers”

work faster, cheaper, and more consistently than human network engineers. IPcenter, an

IT autonomics service, resolves 56% of all incidents with no human intervention.4

Autonomics can be used as a service maturity accelerator, a tool to improve quality and reliability,

while simultaneously reducing costs. However, though it can help organizations improve their

maturity model in many areas, its effects should not be overstated. Effective management, careful

planning, and time are all necessary to reach the highest levels of efficiency and quality of service.

IT applications

5 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

Automation introduces major changes to the workplace. There will be questions about how it

will affect productivity, the workforce, and the way organizations are run. In order to prepare

for the future of automation and autonomics, it is critical that organizations examine how this

rapidly changing technology will affect their business model, profitability, and employees.

Key questions and concerns

How will A/A affect the workforce?Perhaps the single greatest concern about automation is its effect on the workforce. This fear

has slowed the adoption of automation, as there is often great pushback from employees.

Historically, automation has actually had little to no correlation with unemployment.

Although German industries installed a far higher proportion of robotic equipment between 1997

and 2007 than industries in America, they actually saw less job loss in the manufacturing sector.

Other data show that there is an essentially flat correlation between the percent change in use of

automated systems and percent change in unemployment across countries all over the world.1

6 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

How will it impact employees?

Although automation may not lead to job loss on

the whole, it can still have a significant effect on

employment and work activity. Its effects can be

thought of as similar to those of outsourcing. In the

short term, it can lead to job losses and shifting

opportunities. Those doing manual or repetitive

tasks are often the first to be impacted; however the

effects of automation can quickly spread to other

areas. This can become especially problematic when

those who are installing or maintaining systems

become affected. Bringing in tools that would

displace systems engineers can be challenging, as they may have a vested interested in seeing

that the implementation is not successful. That’s why it’s critical that organizations understand

how to properly make use of their workforce in a new, highly automated work environment.

Restructuring the workforceAlthough automation can bring short-term job loss and dramatic shifts, it can also free resources

to create higher level, more-rewarding jobs in other areas. As software and robotic systems

displace their human counterparts, resources can be shifted to other departments. At the core

of an effective automation implementation is an expert who knows how to minimize problems

and ensure that human and autonomic resources are being used to their fullest extent. A

robust management team also is needed to oversee external and internal services.

It is necessary, at least initially, to have staff who work alongside the automated workforce, stepping

in to occasionally fix errors or address problems that are too complicated for the virtual engineers.

This will, however shift as the system evolves. Autonomics allows the systems to improve their

quality of service over time. Each time the systems deal with simple tasks, they amass more data

in their knowledge repository, which they can later use to handle more complex problems. As

virtual engineers become more sophisticated, the human workforce becomes less necessary.

7 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

How will A/A affect ITSM?Automation affects several IT service management (ITSM) processes, the catalog of

services, costs of services, and service levels. Aiming for a high maturity level when

designing services helps ensure higher customer and user satisfaction. A/A allows designers

to pilot new services in the initial learning of events, helping to identify potential problem

areas and allowing for a faster road to maturity. Pilot test results from event automation also

can be used to support the knowledge-

management build and transfer process.

One of the greatest impacts automation

has on ITSM is with service operations.

The simple, often repetitive nature of

these tasks makes them particularly

well-suited to automation. A/A

specifically affects all operational support processes, including monitoring, incident

management, and change management. This can have a significant effect on costs,

as automation can reduce the human workload in these areas by as much as 40%.

A/A affects all operational support processes, including monitoring, incident management, and change management.

Changes to service request and fulfillment

End users expect to be able to access more and more services without interacting with

human intermediaries. A/A can provide unprecedented levels of self-service by automating

service request and fulfillment. These systems can often be automated from end to end

depending on their complexity and decision logic. Initially, it will likely be simple services

that are automated, but over time, as the technology is fully embraced, more services can

be fulfilled through automation. This can significantly reduce the costs of services, allowing

for a more robust offering that can provide for a wider range of end-user needs.

8 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

What are the technical implications?Implementing new automation and autonomics systems can be

challenging. Organizations need to understand the technical requirements

of automation and how it will work with existing infrastructure.

What application and system overhead will there be?

Automation and autonomics can be resource-

intensive systems and require the necessary

computing power to function effectively. It

is critical that organizations take steps to

ensure they have properly prepared for their

implementation. In some cases, A/A services

are partially or completely cloud-based. This

can significantly simplify the requirements

of the deployment, as organizations can

virtually connect their existing infrastructure

to the off-site automation deployment.

What maintenance and oversight are required?

Cloud-based implementations may not

require significant maintenance from

end users and will usually be optimized

and kept reliable by the service provider.

Organizations must simply ensure that they

are meeting the terms agreed upon in the

SLA. On-site deployments will require greater

management, as it is necessary to have

the required computational resources on

hand, as well as the technical expertise to

implement and manage the new systems.

What are the effects on existing systems and tools?

Most organizations are hesitant to implement

new systems as they might displace systems

and tools in which they have already

invested significant resources. The effects

of A/A systems on existing tools can be

extremely varied, and organizations should

determine how to most efficiently integrate

new systems with their existing ones in

order to maximize cost-effectiveness and

efficiency. Many automation tools feature the

ability to integrate with existing productivity,

security, storage, network, and database

technology to provide richer functionality and

increased usefulness. In some cases, A/A

can be used in tandem with, or completely

replace, an existing system, depending

on the organization’s level of commitment

to A/A and unique requirements.

9 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

What are the financial impacts of A/A?

What are the initial costs?

The initial costs of an implementation can vary

significantly depending on the type and extent

of the deployment. Initial costs for a standard

deployment using existing computing resources

include the software, configuration, and training

of employees in its use. Automation also

generally requires more structured inputs than

manual systems, and may require significant

design alterations to existing systems. Given

that nearly 19% of automation installations

fail on their initial attempt, these initial fixed

costs can be difficult to predict and often vary

depending on the expertise of those deploying

the implementation. Deployments also generally

have a limited lifetime, so fixed costs are an

important consideration and can factor in

significantly to the cost-benefit analysis.5

Although automation and autonomics can reduce costs and improve efficiency in many ways,

there are inevitable additional costs associated with implementing any new system. One of the

first questions asked about A/A is how these additional costs will compare with the benefits.

On average, the financial benefits of A/A can be quite substantial if properly implemented.

10 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

What are the long-term costs?

Automation and autonomics may reduce work in certain areas, but they also can create

new work in others. Employees must deploy and maintain the automation, both of which

can require significant time. Automation systems may be imperfect, and errors can

contribute to losses and reduced efficiency. These costs can often be reduced over time,

as autonomic systems are better adapted to tasks and require reduced human input.

What are the cost savings?

No one would implement automation unless they often had a net positive financial

impact on the organization. These savings come largely from a reduction in staff hours

necessary to perform certain operations. In some cases, human involvement can be

completely eliminated. Operations constitute up to 80% of an organization’s IT budget,

dwarfing the costs of hardware and software.5 Given that A/A can provide a 30% to

35% reduction in operational support costs, this presents a significant opportunity

for automation to reduce expenses.6 In order to ensure that the automation system

is providing a positive value, organizations should monitor their cost reductions over

an extended period of years and regularly review and revise their implementation.

11 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

What are the opportunities for providers?Automation and autonomics don’t just afford opportunities for client organizations; they can

also benefit service providers. Automation systems that are implemented on the provider

end can reduce costs for the client and provider and improve end-user experience.

In one recent case, IT services provider Wipro implemented a robotic process implementation for a

major telecom client looking to significantly increase productivity. The client needed an unobtrusive

solution that would boost productivity by 40-50% in a matter of weeks. Wipro developed a

scripted tool that increased the client’s productivity by 70% and reduced errors by nearly 100%.7

By using new automation technology, they were able to satisfy client needs and reduce costs.

12 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

Learning moreAutomation and autonomics are here and organizations that don’t take advantage of

the new technology will fall behind. The immense benefits to efficiency, labor costs, and

customer satisfaction cannot be ignored. But many companies struggle to understand how

automation will affect them and how to best implement new systems. Instead of thinking

of A/A as a core system, a backbone that enables across systems and processes, many

organizations are stuck with several disconnected pieces of the automation puzzle.

WGroup has decades of collective experience in supporting the implementation

and optimization of automation and autonomics. Our team can help your company

solve the automation puzzle and gain the perspective it needs to effectively deploy

new automation systems or increase the effectiveness of existing ones.

For more information on how WGroup can help you better take advantage of the

power of automation and autonomics, visit us online at thinkwgroup.com.

13 ©2015 WGroup. ThinkWGroup.com

References

[1] https://hbr.org/2015/06/robots-seem-to-be-improving-productivity-not-costing-jobs

[2] http://www.infosysblogs.com/infytalk/2013/04/IPsoft_Infosys_

automation_for_tomorrows_enterprise.html

[3] http://www.alsbridge.com/robots-for-sale/

[4] http://www.ipsoft.com/what-we-do/it-process-automation-with-ipcenter/

[5] https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/hotos05/final_papers_

backup/brown/brown_html/hotos05.html

[6] http://www.slideshare.net/cheahwk/ipsoft-autonomics-it-service-management

[7]https://www.wipro.com/documents/enhancing-productivity-through-autonomics.pdf

Drive Your Business

Founded in 1995, WGroup is a boutique management consulting firm that provides Strategy,

Management and Execution Services to optimize business performance, minimize cost and create

value. Our consultants have years of experience both as industry executives and trusted advisors

to help clients think through complicated and pressing challenges to drive their business forward.

Visit us at www.thinkwgroup.com or give us a call at (610) 854-2700 to learn how we can help you.

301 Lindenwood Drive, Suite 301 Malvern, PA 19355

610-854-2700

ThinkWGroup.com